“That couldn’t happen” are probably the 3 most dangerous words in the English language. They mean “I don’t want to think about something that might be painful“. So if you hear MPs saying a “No Deal Brexit can’t happen“, ignore them. They are wrong.

‘NO DEAL’ BREXIT IS THE LAW OF THE LAND
The issue is simple, yet seemingly too painful for most MPs and commentators to accept.

The law is the law, and the Act is primary legislation, which means it has since been incorporated in a whole range of laws and regulations as part of the UK’s exit preparations. It cannot, therefore, be overturned by statements that claim “There is no majority for No Deal”.

In fact, during the Committee stage, the House of Commons voted 320-114 in Committee Stage against staying in the Customs Union. It also voted 319-23 against a second referendum. And last week, MPs voted 432-202 against the proposed Withdrawal Agreement.

So if MPs say “No Deal can’t happen”, they are wrong. They have already voted for ‘No Deal’.

CHANGING PRIMARY LEGISLATION IS VERY HARD

Of course, MPs could still change their minds. But there are now less than 70 days till Brexit. And they would also have to agree this with the other EU 27 countries. These represent nearly 450 million people versus the UK’s 66 million.

Equally important is that the UK has been heading in this direction since negotiations started:

Negotiating a Canada/Singapore-style Free Trade Agreement would likely take years (I’ve done these in the past), so No Deal is also the default position while this takes place

This position was later summarised in the above EU slide, and nobody has since disagreed with it

Since then, MPs have voted for the Withdrawal Act; against remaining in a Customs Union; against a new referendum; and against the Withdrawal Agreement. They have also voted for invoking Article 50 and for setting 29 March 2019 (by 498-114 votes) as Brexit Day.

So time is running out for them to change their minds.

THE ALTERNATIVES TO ‘NO DEAL’ ARE CURRENTLY WISHFUL THINKING

The politics of Brexit also make it unlikely that the government will change its mind, or be forced to change its mind:

Theresa May knows very well that any move to “soften” Brexit by joining a Customs Union would split her Conservative Party down the middle. And any Tory MP who voted for a softer Brexit knows they would likely be deselected as a candidate and lose their job

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn voted to leave the EU in the 1975 referendum, and against the Maastricht/Lisbon Treaties. Many traditional Labour voters are also strongly pro-Leave. So any Labour MP voting against the Party line also faces the risk of deselection

It is therefore hard to see why simply extending Article 50 beyond 29 March would change anything.

And extending would enormously complicate the European elections in May. At the moment, the UK is not taking part in these, as it is leaving on 29 March. But if it isn’t leaving after all, there is little time left to prepare to vote on 23 May

Of course, the EU27 might agree an extension if the UK decided to hold a second referendum, as long as the vote was held before the new Parliament starts work on 2 July. But they would likely first want to know the question on the ballot paper.

Would the government ask if the voters approved of May’s Withdrawal Agreement? Would it instead ask if they wanted to stay in the EU? Or would it simply ask if they wanted to leave with No Deal?

Any of these questions are possible. But deciding between them could be very divisive in itself. And a referendum campaign could be even more divisive. Plus, its outcome would be very uncertain if voters worried that democracy was being undermined by a refusal to accept the first result.

But this would only be the start of a quite complex process, which might well end with a General Election being called – and all the while, the clock is ticking.

So after the government’s defeat on Tuesday, UK businesses and those that trade with the UK must urgently begin to plan on the basis that a No Deal Brexit on 29 March is now UK law.

Please consider joining Ready for Brexit today (the advisory service I co-founded in June). It is effectively the one-stop shop requested by the CBI, and provides curated links to all the areas where businesses may need to prepare for Brexit.

Suddenly, businesses across Europe are waking up to the realisation that the UK is currently on course to leave the European Union (EU) on 29 March next year, without a deal on trade and customs. As Katherine Bennett, the UK boss of aerospace giant, Airbus, warned on Friday:

“This is not project fear, this is dawning reality.”

As the BBC reported on Friday: “Airbus has warned it could leave the UK if it exits the European Union single market and customs union without a transition deal…It also said the current planned transition period, due to end in December 2020, was too short for it to make changes to its supply chain. As a result, it would “refrain from extending” its UK supplier base. It said it currently had more than 4,000 suppliers in the UK.”

Similarly Tom Crotty, group director at INEOS, the giant petrochemicals group, said several companies were putting investment decisions on hold because of Brexit uncertainty:

“The government is relatively paralysed … it is not good for the country.”

THE RANGE OF TOPICS COVERED BY THE BREXIT NEGOTIATIONS IS VERY LARGE

This is why my IeC colleagues and I have now launched Ready for Brexit on the 2nd anniversary of the UK’s referendum to leave the EU. We are particularly concerned that many small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) – the backbone of the European economy – are failing to plan ahead for Brexit’s potential impact.

Negotiations are underway over a possible Withdrawal Agreement, which would set new terms for UK trade with the EU 27 after this date

The proposed Transition Agreement, which would extend the deadline for leaving until 31 December 2020, will only apply if this Withdrawal Agreement is finalised in the next few months

Ready for Brexit will keep its subscribers updated on developments as they occur, as well as providing news and insight on key areas of business concern.

A NUMBER OF VERY DIFFERENT OPTIONS EXIST FOR FUTURE UK-EU TRADE ARRANGEMENTS

The UK has been in the EU for 45 years. Unsurprisingly, as the slide above confirms, the negotiations are proving extremely complex. Both sides have their own objectives and “red lines”, and compromise is proving difficult.

The negotiators not only have to deal with all the trade issues covered in the Ready for Brexit Directory, but also critical political questions such as the trading relationship between N Ireland and Ireland after Brexit. That, in turn, is complicated by the fact that the UK government depends on Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) votes for its majority, and the DUP is opposed to any “special deal” on customs for the Irish border.

BUSINESSES NEED TO RECOGNISE THERE MAY BE “NO DEAL” AFTER 29 MARCH
I have taken part in trade negotiations, and negotiated major contracts around the world. So I entirely understand why Brexit secretary David Davis has insisted:

“The best option is leaving with a good deal but you’ve got to be able to walk away from the table.”

Similarly, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox is right to warn that:

“The prime minister has always said no deal is better than a bad deal. It is essential as we enter the next phase of the negotiations that the EU understands that and believes it… I think our negotiating partners would not be wise if they thought our PM was bluffing.”

The issue is simply that many businesses, and particularly SMEs, have so far ignored all these warnings.

According to a poll on the Ready for Brexit website, only a quarter have so far begun to plan for Brexit. Half are thinking about it, and almost a quarter don’t believe it is necessary. This is why we have produced our easy-to-use Brexlist checklist, highlighting key areas for focus.

“NOTHING IS AGREED UNTIL EVERYTHING IS AGREED”
As the UK and EU negotiators have said many times over the past 2 years, “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed“. These 7 words should be written above every business’s boardroom table:

They remind us that it may prove impossible to agree a Withdrawal Agreement between the UK and EU27

And without a Withdrawal Agreement, there will be no Transition Agreement

Instead, the UK would then simply leave the EU in 278 days time on World Trade Organisation terms.

If you don’t know what WTO terms would mean for your business, you might want to visit Ready for Brexit and begin to use its Brexlist checklist *.

* Ready for Brexit offers users a free one-month trial including access to the Brexlist. After this there is an annual fee of £195 to access the platform. Discounts are available for companies who want to help SMEs in their supply chains to prepare for Brexit, and for trade associations who would like to offer the service to their members.